“I could be wrong, but I think part of the problem is that people think they have the right to confront officers with a gun, that a conversation will ensue after which they can back down and all will be peachy.”
One a fool “confronts” a cop. With or without a weapon. Other than disagreeing with a traffic officer during a stop, the best policy is to say little or nothing and offer no resistance. Give them absolutely no reason to use any kind of force on you. OTOH, all this no-nock warrant stuff with guys dressed up like soldiers needs to go immediately. And stuff like we’ve seen recently in Waco needs to be litigated and the cops need to go to jail. We don’t allow our military to control inside our national borders with few exceptions, so it is an abuse of their powers for cops to play at being soldiers. Citizens can’t continue to be viewed as a “foreign army.”
This isn’t the topic, but since your brought it up, I’ll address it.
IMO there are too may SWAT teams out there. I believe all SWAT teams should operate out of the Country Sheriff’s Department.
The numbers should be adequate to handle confrontations with known hardened criminals or special assault type crimes, at banks, schools, hospitals, government officers, or even home or business invasions.
Strict guidelines should be devised nationally, by a review board made up of participating SWAT team department heads. Agencies found operating outside the national guidelines would lose accreditation to operate, the department head and others would lose their jobs as warranted.
No knock raids would become a thing of the past. Evidence would have to be submitted and warrants issued to take someone into custody. These operations should be conducted as peacefully as possible.
A waiting game would ensue, but that would be better than an active war zone being declared.
I believe there is clearly an abuse of power going on here. Too many people are dying because officers had the wrong address.
One of the biggest disservices to the public was the program that saw TV cameras rolling as officers execute a breach of homes. Dead wrong!
There would still be SWAT typ situations, but they would be handled differently. No law enforcement agency should every be allowed to destroy evidence. Any department burning a home to the ground and bull-dozing within hours afterwards should see management personnel sent to prison. I realize some fires start because some gas canisters are utilized. Ones that don’t start fires should be the only ones certified for use. Plenty of investigation can take place after a fire is put out. Shell casings remain. Locations of victims can be evaluated. A time-line and progression of events can be assessed.
As for your comments about confronting officers, I agree.
I may not like what an officer is doing, but arguing with them armed or not, will not save my life.